85% of all worker’s compensation claims are a result of employees slipping on slick floors. This poses a massive social and financial threat to businesses, which has resulted in commercial floor coatings becoming quite common.
Some common types of floor coatings include epoxy, interlocking rubber tiles, and even concrete paint. However, none of these come close to Spartacote polyaspartic floor coating in terms of quality, durability, longevity, and slip-resistance.
Since you’re reading this, this probably isn’t your first time hearing about polyaspartic commercial floor coatings. They were introduced all the way back in the early 1990s by Bayer Material Science, one of the world’s leading chemical companies. At the time, it was primarily used as a protective steel coating to prevent corrosion on bridges and other structures.
Today, polyaspartic coatings and similar options have become somewhat familiar to the general public, as they’ve been innovated upon and marketed for broader purposes by companies. But they’re probably best known for protecting industrial floors, as well as the workers that safely walk on them.
Here, we’ve tried to bring together all of the most frequently asked questions regarding polyaspartic commercial floor coatings. To get your questions answered, keep reading.
Technically speaking, the term polyaspartic refers to an aliphatic polyurea. Most people are probably somewhat familiar with polyurea coatings, as they’re used in many applications as spray-down tank coatings and truck bed liners. Polyaspartic coatings are typically considered a variation of a polyurea coating and are most often used to provide protection and slip-resistance on concrete floors.
Polyaspartic floor coatings can be applied using a squeegee, seal-coat broom, or nap roller. The most common application methods are the dip-and-roll method and the ribbon-and-roll method, although these technicalities are typically only of interest to professional installers.
Yes. Depending on the coating’s specific formulation, polyaspartic commercial floor coatings can be applied in very low temperatures — even in environments below zero degrees centigrade.
One of polyaspartic’s top selling points is its rapid curing ability. These commercial floor coatings are designed to dry in a matter of hours or even less. In many cases, a facility can have their floors coated on one day and be right back to work by the next day. This rapid cure time is one of polyaspartic’s main benefits over conventional epoxy coatings.
Compared to epoxy floor coatings, polyaspartic coatings are even more durable. Based on empirical testing information, polyaspartic coatings have been shown to provide abrasion resistance which dramatically exceeds that of most epoxy coating systems.
Most of the time, any kind of environment where a resinous concrete coating would be useful is an applicable setting for polyaspartic coatings. There is a very wide range of useful applications, from residential garage floors to factory and storage facility floors.
As versatile and useful as they are, polyaspartic commercial floor coatings are not ideal for all environments. If a breathable concrete sealer is required for a specific floor, a polyaspartic coating wouldn’t be the appropriate choice for that area. These may include such surfaces as driveways, sidewalks, and other stamped concrete surfaces in outdoor settings. Because polyaspartic is a seamless, high-performance polymer coating made to protect surfaces, it is not a breathable material. Over time, it can also exhibit moisture challenges if not applied on appropriate surfaces.
Because of their intense, high-performing nature, polyaspartic commercial floor coatings should only be applied by a trained concrete coating contractor. They are for professional use only.
Yes, polyaspartic coatings can be applied on top of epoxy-coated surfaces. Polyaspartic floor coatings exhibit excellent inter-coat adhesion when applied over epoxy coatings. In the case of old epoxy coatings that are still adhered to the substrate, a professional polyaspartic coating installer can apply a fresh polyaspartic top-coat over the area. This process involves mechanically profiling the epoxy-coated floor first by sanding it. Next, the excess dust leftover must be vacuumed up, and the area must be carefully wiped down with a solvent or adhesion promoter, to clean the surface. Following this, the floor can be recoated with a polyaspartic coating.
Not generally, no. Polyaspartic floor coatings have low to zero VOC, which means they should not negatively affect the air quality in the room or building where they’re installed.
A skilled professional can apply a polyaspartic coating without negatively affecting the aesthetic quality of the floor. In fact, polyaspartic coatings can actually incorporate attractive designs directly in the coating. The impressive floor designs that are possible with specialized polyaspartic commercial floor coatings are wonderful for expressing the creative side of any business.
Hopefully this article has answered any questions you had about polyaspartic commercial floor coatings. From home garages to commercial buildings, polyaspartic floor coatings are the ideal option for protecting floors as well as making them safer for the people who walk on them.